“Barack Obama’s admission that his policies would ‘spread the wealth around’ has ignited a nationwide discussion of how progressive the tax system should be. But a new study on inequality by researchers at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris reveals that when it comes to household taxes, the US ‘has the most progressive tax system and collects the largest share of taxes from the richest 10% of the population.’ The US tax system is far more progressive – meaning pro-poor – than similar systems in countries most Americans identify with high taxes, such as France and Sweden. Our tax system is second only to Ireland in terms of its progressivity for households.”

“It is becoming more obvious with each election cycle that that the widespread adoption of no-excuses-needed early voting has been a big mistake. It won’t be long until candidates and parties will start using early voting poll results and other indicators as a strategy to discourage the opposition and suppress Election Day turnout. All of this is way too high a price to pay for the ridiculously small convenience of not having to go to a physical polling place roughly once a year.”

“Colleges are reporting explicit efforts to attract more Jewish applicants. ‘Over 90 percent of American Jews send their kids to college,’ says Patti Mittleman, Jewish chaplain at Muhlenberg College. ‘So if you know that the pool that you’re going to market to is going to drop dramatically, and you know that there’s this ethnic group that always sends their kids to colleges – and, perhaps, if we buy into the stereotype, disproportionately might be able to pay your tuition – then pieces come together and that’s where I feel like it makes me a little uncomfortable.’ “